Capstone Projects using the HP Technology

Capstone Projects using the HP Technology

The HP Technology for Teaching Higher Education Grant Initiative is designed to support colleges and universities around the world. In 2007, a proposal submitted by Dr K.Sandrasegaran and Dr K. Yasukawa at UTS was selected by HP (Asia Pacific) for funding. 

We are now looking for a group of highly motivated capstone students in ICT-related Majors (SE, CSE, TE, and ICT) and EE Majors to work on this grant as part of their capstone project. 

Introduction and Goals 

Evidence is emerging that the effective use of technology combined with exemplary teaching can positively impact student academic outcomes. The HP Technology for Teaching Higher Education Grant Initiative is a catalyst for education innovation, supporting the development of mobile technology environments that, at their fullest implementation, will: 

• Expand access to high-quality higher education opportunities. 

• Transform teaching and learning in the higher education environment, increasing student success. 

• Be a catalyst for larger campus initiatives in integrating technology into the learning environment. 

• Engage a large number of Faculty in adopting and implementing these models in their classrooms. 

• Foster publication, demonstration and presentation opportunities for academic leaders on the application of technology in higher education learning environments.

• Contribute to the worldwide “community of practice”, faculty who are using technology in innovative and effective ways. 

Equipment to be used 

The 2007 HP Technology for Teaching Higher Education Grant award includes . 

• Twenty wireless HP Tablet PCs with Microsoft® Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition 

• Twenty external drive bay and DVD-CDRW optical drives 

• One HP Access Point with wireless card 

Each HP tablet will be made available to a group of students enrolled in a subject for a 1-3 hour classroom or lab activity only. The tablets will not be available to students outside class hours. Capstone project students will be given limited access to the tablets for development and testing purposes.

Capstone Projects

We are now looking for innovative capstone projects that will use the above equipment for new classroom activities in various subjects in the ICT-related Majors (e.g. 48720 Network Fundamentals, 49048 Wireless Networking, 48740 Communication Networks, etc.). The capstone student must have successfully completed the subject in which the learning activity will be used.

The aim of the capstone project is to produce or "engineer" innovative learning activities in the  classroom or laboratory that enhance the learning outcomes of students enrolled in a subject by bridging the divide between theory and practice through the use of mobile technology. It is anticipated that integrating mobile technology in a class room and laboratory environment will allow introduction new pedagogies whilst at the same time exposing students to state of the art technologies, applications and tools which are relevant to the subject. 

The learning activities and use of HP technology should satisfy the following conditions:

a) It should fit within the goals of the HP Technology Grant given above. 

b) It is anticipated that the activity shall simulate authentic professional practice and give greater ownership and responsibility to students in negotiating their learning experiences;

c) It should address development of students’ technical knowledge acquisition and skills development, as well as broader professional skills such as teamwork, time management, ethics and communication. It should engage students with new and emerging technologies.

d) The learning activity should enhance some of the learning outcomes of the subject and should be approved by the subject coordinator.

e) It should be possible to measure through surveys and other mechanisms the impact on student academic outcomes due to the learning activities and the effective use of technology. 

f) The classroom learning activities should be designed in such a way that they will not be possible without the use of the mobile technologies.

g) The learning activities will be scheduled for the second half of the Spring 2007 semester.

One of the capstone project will produce learning activities that will be used for Open Day, Science Week, and School Visits.

Known Stake-holders

Project leaders: Dr K.Sandrasegaran and Dr K. Yasukawa

Subject Coordinator: e.g. 48720 network Fundamentals (Mr A. Kadi) 

Users: Students enrolled in a subject who will use the planned learning activities. 

Developer: Capstone project students who will develop, document the learning activities in consultation with the project leaders and subject coordinator. 

Technical Consultant: An expert of the HP Mobile and Networking Technologies (TBA)

Capstone Proposal 

On the standard FoE Capstone proposal, the following should be included

Names of Students:

Subject name: 

Brief description of the activity

How does the proposed activity satisfy conditions (a)-(g)?

How do you propose to document the classroom learning activity?

How do you propose to measure the impact on student academic outcomes? 

References to be used 

Capstone Timeline (Spring 2007)

Week 1 –  Completed proposal literature review. 

Week 3 -   Learning Activities designed and documented

Week   5 - Learning Activities tested with small group and updated.

Week 7 -  Class room learning activity 1 completed and documented.

Week 9 -  Class room learning activity 2 completed and documented.

Week 15 – Submission of thesis, paper, CD, log book, and web page. 

Expectations and Deliverables of the Capstone project

-Extensive literature review related to the project before week 1 of the semester in which the project is carried out. This must be presented along with the project proposal.  

- Must meet with your supervisor on a fortnightly basis and present one of the five pre-assigned deliverables of the project in a professional presentation.  

- Must send by email an accurate set of minutes within 1 day of a meeting with the supervisor(s).  

- Must submit the thesis on time as stated in the Capstone Handbook  (End of Exam Week 2) 

- Must submit a 6 page, double column paper based on the important contributions of the capstone by the Monday of Exam Week 3. 

- Must maintain a website about the capstone project. 

- Log book (as per capstone requirement)

- Must submit a CD at the end of the project containing all of the project related material. 

How to register your interest?

Please send me an email at kumbes@eng.uts.edu.au

If you want to discuss any issues related to the project, please see me at the following times: 

Office Hour; Monday 2- 3 pm in Building 1, Level 24, Room 2420B 

LDC1: Friday 1-2pm